Nuns dismissed the spectre of relegation from National Three North with their first win at Edgeley Park and left the home side facing a drop back into Midlands One.

After giving away 12 points in the first four minutes, Nuns responded with a strong, workmanlike performance to check their recent slide in a game that was full of excitement and in which Jody Peacock, Mark Mitchell and James Burnside stood out for their constant effort.

John Suckley and Mark Hares ran in two tries in the first four minutes, Chris Hares converting one to leave shell-shocked Nuns 12-0 down and staring down a barrel.

But by 10 minutes Nuns had shaken off the cobwebs, and centre Mike Benson broke through to score with Lee Cassell converting and then adding a penalty two minutes later.

An end-to-end passage of play ended in a try for Mitchell and a Cassell conversion to put Nuns ahead after 33 minutes, but a Hares penalty brought the score back to 17-15 at the break and the home side had the first word on the restart when - with Nuns scrum-half Sam Viggers in the sin bin for a high tackle - fullback Rory Macgillivray looped round the defence to score.

Two Cassell penalties put Nuns back on top, however, and as Whitchurch chased the game, Martin Smith intercepted a wayward pass and raced away before slipping the ball to Gary Marshall who crossed between the posts.

Cassell had no difficulty converting to extend the lead to 30-20, and although Hares put over a penalty seven minutes from time, relieved Nuns stood firm in defence to reach the final whistle without further damage.